Rep. Pam Marsh

Maddy summaryHB 3191 allocates $8.875 million from the General Fund to directly fund 14 specific Oregon cultural organizations (such as the High Desert Museum, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and World Forestry Center) for the 2025-2027 biennium. It also creates a $400,000 Cultural Resources Economic Fund and sets aside $50,000 for a competitive grant program to support nonprofits that provide technical assistance to arts and cultural organizations. The bill provides concrete funding for established venues and establishes mechanisms for future grants, directly benefiting cultural institutions and the broader arts sector through financial support and administrative assistance.

Establishes the Higher Education Behavioral Health Workforce Expansion Fund. Directs the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to distribute moneys from the fund to community colleges and public and private universities in this state for purposes of expanding the training, employment and retention of behavioral health professionals. Appropriates moneys to the fund. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

] [ Requires the Public Utility Commission to study wildfires. Directs the commission to submit findings to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to energy no later than September 15, 2026. ] [ Sunsets on January 2, 2027. ] Provides that an electric company that is found to be liable for damages in a civil action arising out of allegations that the conduct of the electric company caused or substantially contributed to a wildfire shall also be liable for any federal income tax liability that a plaintiff or class member owes or pays on amounts the plaintiff or class member receives in relation to the civil action. Allows a plaintiff or class member to seek a supplemental judgment to recover from the electric company for the federal income tax liability. Requires an electric company to apply for a wildfire safety certification. Directs the Public Utility Commission to issue a certification if the applicant is implementing a wildfire protection plan and meets certain requirements. Provides that a certification establishes that the applicant has implemented wildfire policies and practices consistent with wildfire safety standards. Provides that a certification does not establish immunity against claims for damages resulting from a wildfire. Directs the commission to commission a study to examine issues related to catastrophic wildfire risk and recovery and develop scenarios for a balanced solution. Directs the commission to provide an interim report on the study's findings and recommendations to the committees of the Legislative Assembly related to energy and environment during the 2026 regular session and provide recommendations for a stakeholder process to follow the final study report. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.

Adds entities in which employees of the entity own at least 50 percent of the ownership interest in the entity directly or through an employee stock ownership plan to the list of sources to which a contracting agency may give preference in procuring goods or services for public contracts. Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.

Permits certain exempt ground water users to withdraw up to 3,000 gallons of water per day for watering any lawn or noncommercial or commercial garden that does not exceed one-half acre. Provides that the exemption applies to the use of water for growing industrial hemp but otherwise not to the use of water to grow plants in the plant Cannabis family Cannabaceae. Provides that, for two years, the exemption does not apply to the use of ground water for watering any commercial garden in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area. Specifies that the total combined use for industrial or commercial purposes, when combined with a commercial garden, may not exceed 5,000 gallons per day.

Requires local governments or special districts to complete final review of final engineering plans for residential development within [ 90 ] 120 days of submission. [ Defines "urban housing application." Requires urban housing applications to be reviewed as limited land use decisions. Authorizes award of attorney fees to applicant if engineering plans or land use applications for residential development are not processed timely. ] Establishes a limited review process for certain applications for residential development within an urban growth boundary. Becomes operative on July 1, 2026. Prohibits local governments from applying certain design review requirements for certain [ urban housing applications ] residential developments within an urban growth boundary . Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.

Prohibits new recorded instruments or governing documents of a planned community from banning the siting of manufactured dwellings or prefabricated structures. Extends sunset until January 2, 2031, for Housing and Community Services Department grants for low-income facility tenant dispute resolution services and for the Manufactured and Marina Communities Dispute Resolution Advisory Committee.

Requires the Governor to appoint a United States Senator when a vacancy in the office occurs. Requires that the appointed Senator be of the same political party as the elected Senator who vacated the office. Prohibits the Governor from appointing the Governor to fill the vacancy. Requires the Governor to call a special election within a specified period after the vacancy occurs. Requires the appointment to end when a replacement is elected.

Adds electric wheelchairs and complex rehabilitation technology to the type of consumer equipment for which an original equipment manufacturer must make available to an owner or independent repair provider a tool, part or other device or implement that the original equipment manufacturer makes available to an authorized service provider for the purpose of diagnosing, maintaining, repairing or updating consumer equipment.

Prohibits a person that offers or sells goods or services online [ to a resident of this state ] from advertising, displaying or offering a price for the goods or services that does not include all fees or charges that a purchaser must pay to complete a transaction for the goods or services, other than taxes or fees that a governmental body imposes on the transaction , [ or ] reasonable charges that the person actually incurs to ship the goods or provide the services or a service fee that is calculated according to distance or a purchaser's selections . Specifies exemptions. Punishes a violation of the Act as a unlawful practice under the Unlawful Trade Practices Act. [ Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die. ].